[BL.Arinna_1982]

Season 2.

[PhoenixRising]

Thanks, Arinna!

Originally Posted by Mignonette (View Post) Arinna and I are both romantics - we love the little nose rubs

I can tell, Lila. I've told Arinna this many times.

Originally Posted by Mignonette (View Post) Believe me Alex, if she'd fallen in love with Ces before meeting Alf, she wouldn't have been trying to have sex with Alf! Even if his butt wasn't furry . Ces had fun with Charlotte even tho he was in love with Lu. But Lu hated Alf touching her, cause she'd fallen in love with Ces. Men and women are just different!

Okay, I think I see your point.

Originally Posted by Mignonette (View Post) Unlike Lu, Ces had already fallen deeply in love long before the sex. His longing and doubting deepened his love. The sex deepened hers. Women pay a heavy biological price (children) for sex and choosing the wrong man. When we're already in love, having sex deepens our feelings exponentially, not necessarily so for men. Sex often brings out different emotions for men and women.

Wow, that is kind of depressing. At least Lu didn't have to pay a price for Giovanni Sforza, and her firstborn was Paolo's. But are you saying that Lucrezia didn't long for Cesare before they had sex? It seemed like she did when she tired to seduce him in her bedroom while naked. That was before their sex scene.

[Mignonette]

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising (View Post) But are you saying that Lucrezia didn't long for Cesare before they had sex? It seemed like she did when she tired to seduce him in her bedroom while naked. That was before their sex scene.

Hi Alex! Oh yeah, she longed for him from their first scene! But having sex with him triggered massive rushes of dopamine in her brain and that's when she fell over the cliff in love with him.

She spied on him having sex, cause she wanted him. It wasn't the first time she'd spied on him either - "a fine lady, another one!, she teased him. Spying on him repeatedly wasn't simply curiosity - she wanted to be his lover. He left the window over his bed unlatched, because he wanted her to watch and to look at his naked aroused manhood - he wanted her to see & desire him as a man, cause he saw & desired her as a woman.

Stendhal's book "On Love", describes how men and women fall in love differently. There are 7 stages: 1 Admiration, 2 A voice within that wonders "what pleasures could she bring me?, 3 Hope, 4 Love is born (infatuation stage), 5 The first crystallization: "She is mine!", 6 Doubt "But does she really love me?" He starts pressing her for proof (usually sex). If she gives in too soon, he loses interest. The last and most critical stage - 7 the second crystallization.

People in love who are in long-term relationships can cycle thru these stages repeatedly, as Ces did when he feared losing Lu to another husband.

He was going thru the doubt stage when he kissed her in the armory. He feared she would fall in love with Alf He needed proof she was still his, so he kissed her. She gave him even more proof later, didn't she?

The timing of that first kiss said so much about Ces. She was taking a second husband, one she'd said she could love, and going to Naples. He couldn't let her go, so he marked her with that kiss. He knew kissing her would change their relationship forever, making it explicitly sexual and romantic.

[BL.Arinna_1982]

[PhoenixRising]

Another great gif, Arinna!

Hi, Lila! OMG, we're getting into the dopamine discussion? But then I've seen women who have sex with men they're in a relationship with, then the relationship ends, and then if they fall in love again, they have sex with another man, so does that mean that one negates the other? I do agree that Lu already loved him and having sex with him made that love more than she thought it would be. Kind of like Chris and Cathy in Flowers In The Attic.

Yes, I also thought that Lucrezia spied on Ces because she was curious and because she was attracted to her brother.

Originally Posted by Mignonette (View Post) Stendhal's book "On Love", describes how men and women fall in love differently. There are 7 stages: 1 Admiration, 2 A voice within that wonders "what pleasures could she bring me?, 3 Hope, 4 Love is born (infatuation stage), 5 The first crystallization: "She is mine!", 6 Doubt "But does she really love me?" He starts pressing her for proof (usually sex). If she gives in too soon, he loses interest. The last and most critical stage - 7 the second crystallization.

Wow! Thanks for letting us know that. So is that just for men? Are there different stages for women?

[Mignonette]

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising (View Post) But then I've seen women who have sex with men they're in a relationship with, then the relationship ends, and then if they fall in love again, they have sex with another man, so does that mean that one negates the other?

Hi Alex! Yes, if she has fallen in love with someone new, then it negates the other, assuming she has fallen OUT of love with him. Women can have sex with a man and have zero attachment to him, but if she's in love, not only will she physically enjoy it way more, but she'll fall deeper in love.

Chris & Cathy are a great example! They were my first incest ship, and now, I'm shameless about shipping incest C&C are so much like Ces & Lu - so many parallels with their stories.

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising (View Post) Wow! Thanks for letting us know that. So is that just for men? Are there different stages for women?

You're welcome! The stages are the same for women, but we experience them differently. It's easier for a man to find proof of a woman's love in the doubt stage.

He asks, "Does she love me?" - he presses for sex as proof. And he asks: Can I please her? - this is why men love a woman's smile

She also asks, "Does he love me?" - she needs to hear him express his love in words. And she asks: Am I just another conquest? - Women are very mistrustful of men for this reason, so are slower and more cautious about falling in love.

[BL.Arinna_1982]

[PhoenixRising]

My favorite scene, Arinna!

Hi, Lila!

Originally Posted by Mignonette (View Post) Hi Alex! Yes, if she has fallen in love with someone new, then it negates the other, assuming she has fallen OUT of love with him. Women can have sex with a man and have zero attachment to him, but if she's in love, not only will she physically enjoy it way more, but she'll fall deeper in love. You're welcome! The stages are the same for women, but we experience them differently. It's easier for a man to find proof of a woman's love in the doubt stage.

Oh, okay. Thanks for clarifying that, Lila. But you said "assuming." So this means she can be in love with more than one person because of the sex? And I always love referencing Chris and Cathy. They were my first incest ship as well, and they also have close parallels.

[Mignonette]

Thanks for the gif, Arinna! That's my favorite scene, too, Alex!

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising (View Post) My favorite scene, Arinna! But you said "assuming." So this means she can be in love with more than one person because of the sex?

No, to fall in love, her heart must be free, sex or no sex. Lu didn't fall in love with Alf, or even Paolo, because she was already in love with Ces.

So how was Lu able to be with Paolo when she was in love with Ces? First, she'd never had sex with Ces, so the second crystallization of love hadn't happened yet. Second, when she had sex with Paolo, she only fell into INFATUATION (infatuation is admiration + lust). Infatuation is the first crystallization, and doesn't last, unless it's followed by DOUBT. Lu never experienced doubt with Paolo. She was CERTAIN of his love. Certainty is the opposite of doubt, and without doubt, deep love cannot crystallize.

Lu felt tons of doubt with Ces, because he was her brother - it was incest! Ces, being frustrated for years in his desire for her, was head over heels in love when he kissed her in the armory. This is why forbidden love crystallizes so strongly - it's the doubt, the uncertainty, the fear of never being able to have the one you love.

For women, already being in love + sex = falling in love. But dopamine - hush Alex - can come in a rainstorm (Lu when she had sex with Paolo) or it can come in a typhoon (Lu when she had sex with Ces).

Lu was VERY much in love with Ces + she was crazed with lust for him after he kissed her in the armory, so when she had sex with him = she fell in love on the level of addiction! Once a woman falls that deeply, it often lasts a lifetime. She may give her body like Lu did with Alf, but he'll never have her heart.

[BL.Arinna_1982]

[PhoenixRising]

OMG, that's the Twilight scene that Ces and Lu had, Arinna!


Wow, that's a lot of information, Lila. Yeah, the dopamine thing does get me a bit confused as to when women really know they're in love, or if it's just their brain chemistry giving them a high.

Ah, so because she was already in love with Cesare, her feelings for Paolo and Alfonso could never be as deep as they could've been, but after having sex with Cesare, she fell more deeply in love with him?

[BL.Arinna_1982]

The very first scene they've had.

[PhoenixRising]

It was obvious even back then that they were into each other.

[BL.Arinna_1982]

The OTP of the show.

[PhoenixRising]

OTP? Yep, they were.

I hope Lila is having a good time in the USA.